Channel 9 reported they had spoken to neighbours who said the man’s family had tried to check him into a mental health ward as late as Thursday but he was turned away due to a lack of beds. He had recently spent time in a mental health facility, they said.

A neighbour said the accused was recently forced to take time of work, struggling with mental health issues.

“There’s a lot more to this,” said the boy’s grandfather.

On Saturday, sitting in the video link room of Amber Laurel Correctional Centre in Emu Plains in the city’s west, the 36-year-old father appeared not to understand what was happening, blankly staring into space as his matter was mentioned.

Natalie Lewin was wondering how she was going to tell her own children.Source:Channel 10

After realising her grandson had been stabbed yesterday, the boy’s grandmother bundled him into her car and attempted to find him medical help.

After realising how serious her grandson’s injuries were, the 60-year-old eventually pulled over out the front of a childcare centre and called for help.

The grandmother was treated for shock.

Paramedics tended to the boy out the front of the centre before rushing him to Westmead Hospital where he died of stab wounds.

Yesterday, Supt Critchlow called the grandmother’s actions “heroic”.

Witnesses describe the woman running 400m up the street with the wounded schoolboy in her arms.

“She’s behaved in a heroic and caring manner, as you would imagine a grandmother would,” Supt Critchlow said. “She’s been presented with something terrible, and done her best to get the young boy to safety and to get him treatment.

“Sadly, despite her best efforts, there was nothing more she could have done. We’re grateful to her for what she did do at the scene. She’s physically uninjured at this point, which we’re pleased about. She’s also assisting our investigation.”

The father is next scheduled to face Parramatta Local Court on July 30.

The grandmother had to be treated for shock over the incident. Picture: Seven NewsSource:Channel 7